Shocking! 27 Percent Of African Americans Live Below Poverty Line

The number of Americans living under the poverty line in the U.S. hit a 52-year-high, according to the new U.S. Census.

The report, “Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010,” showed that close to 15.1 percent of all Americans now live below the poverty line. Though the most shocking statistic of the study is the percentage of African Americans living below the poverty line, which currently sits at a whopping 27.4 percent.

The Huffington Post reports:

The number of blacks living under the poverty line — which is $11,139 for an individual in 2010 — rose to 10.7 million, up 1.6 percent. In all, 27.4 percent of blacks were living in poverty.

Median household income in 2010 was $49,445, a dip of 2.3 percent from the previous year. The median income for black households in 2010 was $32,068, down 3.2 percent from $33,122. The median income for white households also dropped, to a lesser degree, from $52,717 to $51,846, a decline of 1.7 percent. (Median income for Asian and Hispanic households was not statistically different.)